13 video games with outstanding LGBTQ+ representation

SpunOut, the Irish youth information service, has announced the details of a new campaign which highlights the need for more informative sex education in Ireland which is also inclusive of LGBTQ+ young people. Under the Sheets focuses on the experiences young people have had with sex education in Ireland, highlighting the gaps in learning and […]

NewFest said Thursday that HBO’s upcoming Mama’s Boy, the documentary about the life of Oscar-winning Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, will be the opening-night film for the New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival. The fest, which also announced its full lineup, kicks off its 34th edition October 13.

the real-life drama facing transgender kids in Texas and turned it into a playable narrative experience that they hope will change hearts and minds.Lookout Drive Games worked with trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming creators to create “Portrait of a Texas Family: A free slice of life game about love and resilience,” now available for free on Mac and PC.In the roughly 30-minute visual novel (kinda like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” story), you play a parent of Sofia, a trans 14-year-old. Along with your partner Martín, your family must collect family keepsakes to place inside of a “safe folder” that will serve as proof of Sofia’s insistent gender identity and her supportive family, just in case the state’s child abuse investigators come calling.In the game, players can customize their character’s skin tone, hair length, body type, and pronouns.

EJ Panaligan editor NewFest, a New York-based LGBTQ+ film festival, has announced the full lineup for its 34th iteration. The 2022 edition will run from Oct. 13 to Oct. 25. With world, North American, U.S. and New York premieres for more than 130 films from 23 countries, the festival will be headlined by the world premiere of HBO documentary “Mama’s Boy” from Laurent Bouzereau as the opening night screening. Additionally, the festival will hold an advance screening for the Season 2 premiere of popular HBO series “The White Lotus.” Other high-profile screenings through the festival’s run include Michael Grandage’s love triangle film “My Policeman,” starring Harry Styles and Emma Corrin, and the stop-motion horror comedy “Wendell & Wild,” from writer-director Henry Selick. Jordan Peele co-writes, while also featuring in a lead voice role. Keegan-Michael Key inhabits the film’s other lead voice role, marking a “Key & Peele” reunion on the animated stage between the two longtime collaborators.

The prestigious Cardiff-based Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Festival 2022 returns for the first in-person festival since 2019 with an incredible lineup of gorgeous new short films. Now in its 16th year, the Iris Prize aims to highlight LGBTQ+ stories through the medium of short films. Among this year’s filmmakers battling it out for the Best British […]

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday in a 5-4 vote declined a request from Yeshiva University in New York to block a New York County Supreme Court order that requires the university to recognize the “Pride Alliance” LGBTQ student club.

At Signature Theatre in Arlington, the fall season has already kicked off with Ethan Lipton’s “No Place to Go” (through Oct. 16), a commentary on the sad state of working in America starring Bobby Smith backed by a cool trio of musicians. In a stunning performance, Smith plays George, a writer/musician juggling artistic pursuits and a day job as an information refiner. When the unfeeling company decides to streamline, George must decide whether to remain in the city that never sleeps or follow his “permanent part-time job” to Mars.

My So-Called Life and Dr. Hugh Culber on Star Trek: Discovery has opened up about his struggles of being a gay man many times.

In the 1960s, a legend was on the rise in Los Angeles. An exotic dancer, singer, comedian, drag performer, and Black trans woman by the name of Sir Lady Java was a star of the L.A.

Colorful foliage, colorful openings: While the dining industry has struggled under the weight of the pandemic, staffing shortages, supply chain crises, inflation, and a spate of closings over the summer, the spirit of colorful creativity in the District hasn’t slowed. This fall, we look forward to visiting brand-new ideas, creative concept changes, additional spots from beloved chefs, an ever-expanding Wharf, and more. Note that some of these restaurants have opened already, while others have planned opening dates through the rest of the year.

Fox’s new musical nighttime soap opera “Monarch” is to country music as the network’s “Empire” was to hip-hop. Complete with over-the-top characters, familial intrigue, infidelity, and tragedy. Oh, and a few queer characters, too. Among those characters is hair and makeup artist Earl, played by out actor and singer Kevin Cahoon. In addition to occasionally being the much-needed source of comic relief, Earl also plays the irreplaceable best friend of country music queen Dottie Roman, played by none other than Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon. Fortunately for us, Kevin was kind enough to make time in his schedule to answer a few questions.

One of the first things I remember watching on television other than the “Howdy Doody Show,” was the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. I remember the “Howdy Doody Show” because my mom once took me to be in the peanut gallery. The coronation was a spectacle hard to forget even for a six-year-old.

CAGLIARI, Sardinia — Giorgia Meloni, the hard-right leader of a party descended from post-Fascist roots and the favorite to become Italy’s next prime minister after elections this month, is known for her rhetorical crescendos, thundering timbre and ferocious speeches slamming gay-rights lobbies, European bureaucrats and illegal migrants. But she was suddenly soft-spoken when asked on a recent evening if she agreed, all caveats aside, with the historical consensus that the Fascist leader Benito Mussolini — whom she admired in her youth as a “good politician” — had been evil and bad for Italy.

5-4 decision Wednesday evening the U.S. Supreme Court opted to not block a state court’s ruling ordering a faith-based private university to recognize an LGBTQ students’ organization, but the order is quite likely temporary.Yeshiva University, which has four campuses in New York City, was ordered by a state court to recognize Y.U.

Izzy Dieker, who spoke out and instigated reforms after she punished at school for saying she’s a lesbian; the Pendleton Heights Gay-Straight Alliance, which won sued their school – and won – when they were forced to keep a low profile; school board chair Kelsey Waits, who did what she needed to do to protect her trans daughter who was outed and harassed; the PFLAG v. Abbott plaintiffs, who stopped the state from investigating the supportive parents of trans kids as child abusers; and Charlee Corra, a teacher and one of the heirs to the Disney fortune who came out to speak out against the Don’t Say Gay law.These five nominees defended LGBTQ kids’ rights and made the future a better place.

Chrys Dee Lemon, who practiced law as a partner for the D.C. law firm McIntyre & Lemon for the past 26 years specializing in banking and insurance law and who provided both financial and legal support for numerous LGBTQ organizations, died on Aug. 27 at the age of 64.

Casa Ruby, the Washington, D.C., LGBTQ+ organization beset by a variety of financial troubles, should be dissolved, and there is also evidence of “potential criminal misconduct” there, says a report from the foundation appointed to be its receiver.The nonprofit had provided housing and social services to D.C.’s most vulnerable LGBTQ+ residents — youth, transgender people, people of color, and others — since its founding in 2012. However, last year it lost a city grant due to mismanagement of funds.

Legislation seeking to codify same-sex marriage may be cued up as soon as this week in the U.S. Senate after lawmakers returned from August recess, although reaching the 60-vote threshold to end a filibuster is unassured.

During a radio interview, the Prime Minister of Malta, Robert Abela, confirmed that free gender-affirming surgery is part of their LGBTQ+ rights reform. To date, the government has legalised marriage equality, criminalised conversion therapy, added non-binary as a gender option on official documents and more. On One Radio, Abela discussed the promise of free gender-affirming […]

A private Christian university in Washington that admits to discriminating against LGBTQ+ job applicants is being sued by dozens of current and former students, faculty, and staff.Seattle Pacific University has been under investigation by the state since May after Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson received multiple complaints from students, staff, and faculty regarding the hiring policies at SPU. In June, the university responded to an inquiry from Ferguson by filing a suit in federal court requesting protection from the Washington state investigation due to its exemption as a religious institution.

What it's about: This illustrated history of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League tells the stories of the first women to play professional baseball in the first-ever women's league beginning in 1941. With beautiful illustrations and firsthand stories told by the women who played in the league, this book is a one-of-a-kind resource that proves once and for all that the women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League really were in a league of their own.How it compares: With stories directly from actual players in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball league, this book gives A League of Their Own fans a look into the reality of the league the show is based on, as well as the history of the league itself.

CBS Sports’ Beyond Limits returns with three new episodes including one featuring OJ Jenkins, our local LGBTQ community women’s football champion. The episode airs on Saturday, Sept 17 at 1 p.m. Central Time on CBS and streams on Paramount+.

Vampire Academy stars Rhian Blundell and Mia McKenna-Bruce speak with GAY TIMES about the new series, playing LGBTQ+ roles and their characters “sexually charged” romance.

GAY TIMES teamed up with London’s most well-known LGBTQ+ sexual health clinics to show you how easy it is to get checked.

It was early on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, when the first rumbles came across the pond about Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s health. “Keep calm and carry on” kicked in until her children arrived in Scotland. Nothing screams imminent death in Britain more than the arrival of close family.

The Wanda Alston Foundation, which a D.C. Superior Court judge named last month as the city’s receiver for the LGBTQ community services center Casa Ruby, issued a preliminary finding in an interim report filed in court on Tuesday, Sept. 13, declaring that “Casa Ruby should be dissolved in an orderly manner pursuant to D.C. Code.”

Joseph C. “Joey” Phalin, who worked from 2002 to 2021 as a bartender at the 17th Street gay bars Cobalt and JR.’s and who became a beloved figure to his customers and friends near Dupont Circle, died unexpectedly on Sept. 8 in Rochester, N.Y., where he had moved last year, according to a social media post by his brother, James Phalin.

Serbian police have officially banned the EuroPride march route due to mass anti-LGBTQ+ protests and apparent “security concerns”.

Out in Colombia, a gay-owned tour company that won the 2021 Impact Award from the IGLTA Foundation, in recognition of its dedication to responsible tourism development. We’ve teamed up with Out in Colombia and came up with a few ideas to inspire your next trip.A picturesque colonial port city on the Caribbean coast, Cartagena has long been a top draw for tourists, thanks to its historic walled downtown, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that dates to 1533.

Two popular gay contestants from The Great British Bake Off (known as The Great British Baking Show in the U.S.) say the show needs to do more for LGBTQ+ inclusion.The competition show has “embraced gay men very comfortably and highlighted them a lot,” but the “rest of the queer community has been slightly sidelined,” David Atherton, who won the program’s 2019 season, recently told PinkNews.His season, in which fellow gay contestant Michael Chakraverty placed sixth, marked a “turning point” for inclusion, he said. After downplaying LGBTQ+ visibility in previous seasons, in their season the show’s staff “let us wear T-shirts that were pro-LGBTQI+, and right at the end of the whole series is me and Nik [his fiancé] kissing,” he explained.But it’s time for the show to have a transgender competitor, Chakraverty told PinkNews.

An Ofsted report has described a formerly 'outstanding' grammar school as a place where racism, homophobia, and misogyny have flourished. The school, in Lancashire, has been downgraded to 'inadequate' by the inspector as incidents such as 'harmful sexual behaviour went unchallenged’ and said some pupils had ‘lost confidence’ in the ability of staff to protect them from harm.

As Pete Buttigieg, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT), continues his push for broader adoption of electric vehicle use, he was again targeted with homophobic attacks online.  

Officials from EuroPride and Belgrade Pride commemorated the start of EuroPride 2022 in the Serbian capital with a ceremonial flag raising Monday as the event gets underway this week.

The Disney-themed drag brunch scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 11 was abruptly cancelled last week after an onslaught of threats of violence to the venue, the Cool Beans Bar and Grill, an LGBTQ+ friendly establishment.

Maybelle Blair, the 95-year-old baseball player who was an inspiration for A League of Their Own who came out this year; Solomon Bates, the second minor league baseball player to come out and was signed by the Sioux City Explorers; Lia Thomas, who came out and stood up to her Republican lawmaker dad; Megan Rapinoe, who educates her followers about wildlife and whose emu stole the show; his followers on TikTok and Instagram about life as a trans dad and promoted protests against anti-trans laws; and Justine Lindsay, who uses her large platform on to show what it’s like to be Black, queer, and Muslim.The nominees for LGBTQ Nation’s Sports Hero of the Year 2022 confirm that what counts, win or lose, is how you play the game. Vote now for LGBTQ Nation’s 2022 Sports Hero. Maybelle BlairIn June, Maybelle Blair, who inspired the character played by Madonna in Penny Marshall’s 1992 comedy A League of Their Own, came out as gay.The occasion was the premiere of a new Amazon series based on the film.

The pandemic is over (in award show world anyway,) and glitz and glamour have returned. That is the prevailing impression from this year’s 74th annual Emmy Awards. The show was stunning and exciting from the outset, but even with the pomp and loud noise of celebration, a queer presence was not to be drowned out.

These fierce young adults are creating their own destinies, and we love to see it.

Malta’s prime minister confirms that the country will have free gender affirming surgery for trans people, under reformed laws.

ABOVE: Complaints of queerbaiting are ridiculous. I always remember the first time I heard a passionate attack of a star for queerbaiting, it was Chadwick Moore attacking Nick Jonas for having the temerity to speak up for LGBTQ rights at Stonewall. Then Moore became a far-right Republican.

Below are our picks for some of the most fun and creative things to do this week in the DMV that are of special interest to the LGBTQ community.

A post shared by Anthony Edwards (@theanthonyedwards_) An NBA player has faced immediate backlash and condemnation after a social media posting. Anthony Edwards, 21, plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves. On the weekend he posted a brief video to his Instagram stories.In it, he filmed a group of men outside his car window.

Brigham Young University removed pamphlets with LGBTQ resources from welcome bags for new students last month, according to Today.Created by the student-run group RaYnbow Collective, the pamphlets directed students to resources for safe housing, therapy, scholarships, gender-affirming clothes, and political action opportunities, as well as events students could attend.The Honor Code Office at BYU, a Utah university sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, prohibits “same-sex romantic behavior.” The RaYnbow Collective, which supports safe spaces for LGBTQ students and staff, isn’t technically affiliated with BYU, even though students run the non-profit.Maddison Tenney, the group’s executive director, told TODAY she started RaYnbow Collective to help others avoid the loneliness she felt her freshman year as a gay student at BYU.“I remember sitting in my white dorm room with these cement walls and breaking down,” Tenney said. “I didn’t know anyone who was like me, who wanted to be faithful and embrace the fullness of themselves.”To develop the pamphlets, Tenney said RaYnbow Collective collaborated with BYU student paper The Daily Universe and paid a $200 fee.

About 100 youth activists and their supporters from throughout the country turned out for a rally on Monday, Sept. 12, at D.C. ‘s John Marshall Park near the U.S. Capitol to call on Congress to pass the LGBTQ nondiscrimination legislation known as the Equality Act.

Y Tu Mamá También that culminates in a kiss dissolving the limits of possibility, the queer longing for connection that permeates A Home at the End of the World, and the barbed revolutionary romp of The Dreamers, all of which somehow slipped past my parents’ radar. Suffice it to say, I had a thing for messy bisexuals.

On Monday, September 13, a judge adjourned an injunction seeked by secondary school teacher Enoch Burke with the aim of being released from prison. Burke has mounted a legal challenge against the Wilson’s Hospital School’s decision to put him on paid administrative leave pending a disciplinary process. After being jailed for contempt of court, teacher […]

What everyone needs to do, see, and eat on a trip to Sri LankaFor hearty pub food and beautiful countryside, this South Downs inn is the place to stayI went to Corona's beer island and fell in love with the eco-friendly paradiseJust because progress has been made, doesn’t mean it can’t be undone. It very much echoed the how I felt in India during my visit in 2013.

LGBTQ Nation’s 2022 Political Hero are Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine, who became the first out transgender four-star admiral and spoke out for trans health care access; Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who scored a major win for LGBTQ protections in her state and stood up to Don’t Say Gay; California state Rep. Scott Wiener, who helped martial several pieces of pro-LGBTQ legislation through the legislature; Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who went full gay dad and stood up for the rights of the kids of LGBTQ people to speak about their families in schools; and Urbandale, Iowa School Board member Daniel Gutmann, who stood up to a candidate backed by the anti-LGBTQ organization Moms for Liberty and won.These five LGBTQ people were elected or appointed to serve, and did so with distinction.

Did you miss out on Capital Pride this year or want another chance to gather with the LGBTQ community and allies? Several area Pride celebrations are taking place in towns and cities in the area over the next few weeks.